Gravity-fed mirror-silvering hand guns



March 20, 1956 J. MULLER GRAVITY-FED MIRROR-SILVERING HAND GUNS Filed Dec. 21, 1953 & u mw M NL 0 EL. T VU 7 m 4 H W. W J

2,7s9,013 GRVITY FED MIRROR- SILYERINGHAND GUNS Jseiph Mullr, Quee ns;

Application December 21 1953,8eri115i0l699,461 9 Claims. (Clij299-SG) Ths invention rlates to gravity-fed mirror-silvering hand guns. 1

It is cohventional to silver mirrors with plural solutions which have been mixed manually beforeapplicaton to the back of a mirror for precipitation of silver thereon. Customarily one of thesolutions includes silver nitrate and another a reducing agent These solutiens if mixed in certain concentrations and permittecl to stand to long explodeviolently. The higher its temperature the more readly the mixture explodes. Moreover, due to rapid deterioration the mixture should be used within a few seconds after mixing. Hence, mirror in the app nded claims.

In the drawings in which is shwn possible ernbodiments of the invention,

Fig. l is a top ance witli thepresent invention;

silverers must work at great speed and under dangerous conditions.

It has neen proposed t obviate these dfliculteshy spraying the solutions uncier pressure from separate nozzles, the solutions being mixed as they are sprayed. But spray guns and theirinherent auxiliaries are quite ex pensive and bulky, require training of persorinel, and are not practical for handling-srnall quantities.

It is the principal object of=this invention to provide a silverng apparatus which yercomes the foregoing drawbacks of the premixing and spray systern s. More specifically, it is an objctof the present invention to provide amirror silverihg apparatus which mixes solutions just before their application to a mirror, retains the mixturefor only a fraction of a second, is so simple in its operation that it can be utilized hyuntrained help, can silver large or small surfaces with eqi1al case, constitutes relatively few and simple parts, and, withal, is highly eflicient in operation.

It is another object of this invention to provide a mirror silvering apparatus which is comparatively light in Weight and does not. require bulky, heavy and costly auxiliary equipment.

It is another object of this invention to provide mirror silvering apparatus which is so constructed that regardlessof carelessness or lack of skill the various solutions are mixed in correct proportions.

It is another object of this invention to provide a mirror silvering apparatus whose construction is such that Fig. 2 is a centrallbngitudinal verticalsectional view through the gun, the same being taken substantially along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 and showing thegun in inoijerative condition;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary viewfiof on'e'of the valves;

the same being taken along substantally the same line as "Fig. 2 but illustrating the gun in operative condition;

Figs. 4 5,16 and 7 are transverse sectional views of the gun, the same being taken substantially along the 6-6 and 7--7, respectively of Fig. 2;

lnes 44, 5-5, and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragnientary sectional view taken substantially along the line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

Referring now in detail tthe-drawingsQ the reference numeral 10 denotes a gravity-fed mirror-silvering gun etnbodyirig the present invention; Said gun includes a shell 12 co1nprising a bott om Wall14, side walls 16, 18 a rear wall 26 and a rerwardly tilted front wall 22. All of the walls arefabricated from a rnaterial such, for example, as a syritlietic plastic which is chemically inert to the solutions used in silvering of mirrors. Typical plastics which may be employed are cellulose acetae, cellulose acetate butyfate and acrylic resins.

All of the Walls are joined to oneanother in some Suitable fashion as, for example, autogeneously or by adhesives. The topof the shell is open. The forvvard portion of the bottom wall tapers toward the front wall 22, and the side walls 16, 18 converge forwardly, as best shown in FgL-l. so that the gun can be used in closequarters.

he gun is designed to be employedwith plural solations which are stored in suitable reservoirs, e. g. tanks, at a level above the operating position of the gun so that the solutions can be fed to the gun by. gravity. Thesolutions are introduced to the gun under a relatively lovv head whereby as later will be apprecated the solutiohs fiowthrough the gun gently and gently emerge therefrom, not being ejected under great force as is the case with spray guns.

In a typical gun embodying the present invention three fluids are ernployed, at least one of which conit may be quickly and easily disassenbled f or cleaning and repair.

It is another object of this invention to provide a mirrorsilvering apparatus whichemploys parts impervios to the corrosive effectsofthe silvering solutions wherever the solutions are likely totouch and inexpensive metal parts elsewher e, the apparatus bei ng so constructed and arranged that a;: minimum 0f ir npervious parts are employed.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in part will be-pointed out hereinafteri:

The invention, accordingly,"consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the -gr.avityfed mirror-silveringgun hereinafte1i.describec l and illustrated,

tains silver nitrateone a reducing agent, and one an alkalizing agent. Hence the gun 10 is illustrated as designed for use with three solutions. It will be understood, however, that this particular number of solutions is not critcal and that the gun can be less or more solutions if desired. The rear wall 20 mounts three hose nipples 24. Said employed with npples are of conventional construction. Each constitutes a rearwardly extending Section 26 formed with a series of external annular grooves 28. The back wall of each groove is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the section 26 and the front wall oblique[ .The tip of the section is conical to facilitate coupling with ahse.

Each nipple also 'includes a central fiange 30 and a for wardly extending section 32 having a rnale thread.

The rear wall20 isprovided wth thiree tpped penings 34. Screwed ineach opening is thereduced threaded.

end36 of a hose bushng 38 formed of a synthetic plastic.

The bore 40 of the bushing is tapped. The enlarge d head of the bushng is located within the hollow nterior of the shell. The threadedsection 32 of each hose hp file is screwed into the; threaded bore of a dilfe1fent hose bushing thereby securing the npplein place.

A packing washer 42 of a compressible syntheticplas pplic atin will begindicate d" ne of the variosl tic, e. g. en elastomeric resin, is interposed between each flange 30 and busliing 38 thefby effecting a liquid-tight joint at the point where the nipple is connected to the shell.

The hippies are made of metal, being the only components exposed to the silvering solutions which are so fabricated. Hence said nipples are made from a noncorrodible metal, e. g. stainless steel, as contrasted with other metal parts hereinafter described which are made of ordinary steel, iron, brass or the like.

The external surfce of the enlargedhead of each hose bushing 38 is fashioned with a set of annular grooves plastic rocking arm 84 pivoted on a metal shaft 86 secured in the central Wll 48. The ether end of the rocking arm is located immediately beneath and in contact with the rearwardly extending arm 88 of a synthetic plastic bell crank lever 90 pivoted on a shaft 92 whose opposite ends are secured in the side walls 16, 18 of the shell. The other arm 94 of the bell crank lever extends downwardly and is located in front of and in contact 44 to aid in orming asecure joint between said bushing and one end of a short length 46 of fiexible tubing fabricated from an elastrneric plastic, such, for example,

as a vinyl copolymer. Thus there are three of these lengths of flexible tubing, each one associated with a different one of the hose bushings and npples. Said with the tips ofthe forward ends of the spindles 56. Thus the springs 74 in addition to biasing the valves V to closed position urge the bell crank lever 90 in a counterclockwise direction (as seen in Fig. 2) and, therefore, biases the trigger in a like direction. When the trigger is pulled back it Willforcethe spindles rearwardly against lengths of flexible tubing are located within the shell and extend forwardly from the rear wall 20.

The lengths terminate just short of a transverse central wall 48 of a synthetic rcsin which is fashioned with three tapped openings 50 in alignment with the openings 34. Bach opening 50 has screwed therein the forward threaded reduced end of a synthetic resin hose bushin'g 52. The enlarged head of each bushng 52 protrudes from the rear surface of tfne wall 48 and is provided externally with annular grooves 54 for facilitating frictional engagement with the forward end of an associated length of flexible tubing 46.

Bach of the bushings 52 provides the body of a diierent valve V. The movng portion of the valve comprises a spindle 56 which is journaled in the cylindrical bore of the bushing 52. Said spindle is formed at its rear end with an enlarged head 58 that is small enough to be freely movable within the associated length of flexible tubing 46 and provide ample space between the head and tubing wall for substantally unrestricted flow of liquid when the valve is open. Said spindle and its head are fashioned from a synthetic plastic.

A washer 60 of an elastomeric plastic encircles the spindle and is located immediately in front of the head 58. Optionally, to insure retention of said washer, the spindle may be formed adjacent said head with a groeve 62 in which the washer is seatecl. It will be appreciated that when the spindle is urged forwardly the washer seats against the rear face of the bushing 52 closing the valve V and permitting no flow of liquid through the gun.

In order to allow liquid to flow through the valve when the washer is shifted oI the bushing the spindle 56 is formed with diamctrically opposed flats 64 extending through and beyond the bushing. As shown in Fig. 5, this forms a space between opposite sides of the spindle and the bore of the bushng 52. Liquid will flow through these spaces when the washer is lifted ol the bushing.

The wall 48 is provided with an upper forwardly extcnding lcdge 66 from whose front edge a support 68 depends. with theopenings 50 and of the proper size to function as journals in which the spindles 56 are translatable. The forward ends of the spindles project from the support and carry abutments 72 near their tips. Helical springs 74 encircling said forward ends are held under compression between the abutments and support and thereby act to bias the spindles forwardly and urge the valves to a closec l position.

A synthetic plastic trigger 76 is inclcled for simul taneous manually controlled opeiation of all the valves. Said trigger is pivoted on a metal cross shaft 78 whose opposite ends are secured in the side wall 16, 18. The triggcr comprises a downvvardly projecting manuallymanipulatable finger that passes through a slot 80 in the bottom wall 14 of the shell. The trigger has a short forwardly extendingprojection 82 at its upper end. 'Ihis projection bearson the top of one end of a Synthetic The support includes three openings 70 aligned the action of the spring to unseat the valve heads 58 and open the valves.

It will be observed that the support 68 terminates well ahove the bottom wall 14 of the shell. Thus, when the valves are opened silven'ng solutions will spill out of thehose bushings 52 into the space between the wall 48 and support 68. These solutions will descend under the influence of gravity into contact with the bottom wall 14. In normal use the gun isheld in a tilted positon, the forward end of the gun being lowermost, so that the silvering solutions will escape from beneath the support 68 and will flow down the bottom wall 14 to the front end of the gun.

To prevent the different silvering solutions from intermixing until the last possible moment a set of vertical partitions 96 is mounted on the bottom wall 14. Said partitions are secured to the front of the central wall 48 and pass through notches 98, 100, respectively, in the support 68 and vertcal leg 94 of the bell crank lever. The front ends 102 of the partitions terminate short of the front wall 22 of the shell thereby providing a mixing chamber 104 in which the silvering solutions are combined a moment biorethey flow out of the gun.

The front wall includes a large threaded aperture 106 in which the rear thrcaded end of a nozzle 108 is screwed. lt will be observed that the longitudinal axis of the nozzle is upwardly inclined with respect to the bottom wall 14 of the shellthis beingdue to thercarward inclination of the frontvvall 22. Such tilting of the nOZZIe is desirable inasmuch as it permits level outflow of the intermixed solutions when the gun is held in a tilted position.

A grip 110 depends from the bottom wall of the casing to facilitate handling of the gun.

It thus will be seen that there is provided a gun which achieves the several objects of the invcntion and is well adapted to meet theconditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above inventiri, and asvarious changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described, or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now described the invention, there is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent:

1. A gravity-fed mirror-silvering hand gun comprising a shell having a bottom wall, side walls, a rear wall, a front wall, and an open top, a plurality of hose npples mounted in said rear wall and dap'ted to be coupled to hoses fed by gravity from sources of silvering solutions, a plurality of hose hushings inounted in said rear wall, each bushing being=coupled through said wall with a different nipple, a..transverse central wall mounted on the bottom wall andspannng the space between the side walls of the shell, a plurality of hose hushings mounted in and extending through said central wall, each of said second named hose bushings being aligned with a different one of the irst named hose bushings, lengths of fiexible tubixg ir1terconnectihg the aligned hose bushings,

each of the second namedbushings constituting a valve assocated length of flexble tubing, sad spndle includng a portion projecting forwardly from the central wall, means biasing each of sad spindles forwardly so as normally to maintan each head in closed poston aganst the associated valve body, a set of partitons mounted on the bottom wall of the shell andconnected Wth sad central wall so as to maintan separately slvering solutions flowng through the derent valve bodes, sad partitions terminatng short of the front wall of the shell to form a mixing chamber for sad solutions, a nozzle mounted on sad front wall, and manually manipulatable means catred by sad shell and efiective upon operaton thereof simultaneously to shift all of sad spindles rearwardly against the force of sad biasing means.

2. A gun as set forth in claim 1 wheren the manually manpulatable means comprses a trigger, means rotatably mounting sad trgger on the shell, and a knematic linkage interconnecting sad trigger and all of sad spindles.

3. A gun as set forth in claim 1 wheren the nozzle is tilted upwardly.

4. A gun as set forth in claim 1 wheren the side walls converge toward the front wall.

5. A gun as set forth in claim 1 wheren a support is carred by the central wall and spaced forwardly thereof, sad support being provided wth journals in which the spndles are slidable.

6. A gravity-fed mirrorsilverng hand gun comprsng a shell having a bottom wall, sde walls, a rear wall, a front wall, and an open top, means mounted on sad rear wall and adapted to be coupled to hoses fed by gravity from sources of slvering solutions, a transverse central wall mounted on the bottom wall and spanning the space between the side walls of the shell, a plurality of hose bushings mounted in and extending through sad central wall, each of sad hose bushngs being algned with a different one of the couplng means, lengths of flexible tubing nterconnectng the algned hose bushings and coupling means, each of the bushings constituting a valve body, a spindle axially shiftable in each of sad valve bodies and havng a head at the rear thereof within the associated length of flexible tubing, sad spndle ncluding a porton projecting forwardly from the central wall, means biasing each of sad spndles forwardly so as normally to mantan each head in closed position against the associated valve body, a set of parttions mounted on the bottom wall of the shell and connected with sad central wall so as to mantan separately silvering solutions flowing through the difierent valve bodles, sad partitons termnatng short of the front wall of the shell to form a mixing chamber for sad solutions, a nozzle mounted on sad front wall, and manually manpulatable means carried by sad shell and eflectve upon operation thereof smultaneously to shift all of sad spindles rear- Wardly against the force of sad biasing means.

7. A gravity-fed mrror-slvering hand gun comprsng a shell having a bottom, sides, a rear, a front and an open top, 21 plurality of. means carried by sad shell remote from the front thereof and adapted to be coupled to hoses fed by gravity trom sources of silvering solutiens, a plurality of valves carried by the shell and each having an inlet and outlet, conduit means connecting the coupling means to the valve nlets, a set of partitions mounted on the bottom of the shell and formng themwith open top channls leading forwardly from the valve outlets so as to maintain separately silvering solutions flowing through the difierent valves, sad parttons terrnnating short of the front of the shell to form a mixng chamber for sad solutions, a nozzle carried on the front of the shell and opening rearwardly to the mxing chamber, and manually manipulatable means carried by sad shell and elective upon operation thereof simultaneously to open all of sad valves.

8. A gravity-fed minor-silverng hand gun comprising a shell having a bottom, sides, a rear, a front and an open top, a plurality of means carried by sad shell remote from the front thereof and adapted to be coupled to hoses fed by gravity from sources of slverng solu tiens, a plurality of valves carred by the shell and each havng an nlet and outlet, means basing all of sad valves to closed position, conduit means connecting the coupling means to the valve inlets, a set of parttions mounted on the bottom of the shell and formng therewith open top channels leading forwardly from the valve outlets so as to mantain separately silvering solutions flowng through the different valves, sad partitons termnating short of the front of the shell to form a mxing cham ber for sad solutions, a nozzle carried onthe front of the shell and opening rearwardly to the mxng chamber, and manually manipulatable means earried by sad shell and efiectve upon operation thereof smultaneously to open all of sad valves.

9. A gun as set forth in claim 8 wheren the nozzle is tlted upwardly.

Referenc es Cited in the file of ths patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,686004 Hottinger Oct. 2, 1928 

